We're Living In Different Ways
by backinthebox
Summary: "There's a moment, right?" Chloe interrupted, picking up the last shot and biting the corner of her lower lip pensively. "When you grow up or stay where you are, or something?" Graduation, in the Welcome to The Lodge at Fallen Leaves 'verse.


When it came to keeping her opinions to herself, Aubrey was trying. Really.

She kept her gaze on the magazine on her lap, trying to pretend like she hadn't already read the same publication nearly a dozen times (or more), but she could feel the excitement actually reverberating from the girl on the opposite end of the couch from her.

Aubrey pursed her lips, her focus on her magazine so thorough as if she didn't already know what was happening behind the scenes of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and how many of them had actually survived their series' respective finales.

"I can't believe everyone's graduating," Emily finally blurted out, unable to contain herself. "This is so exciting!" She caught herself, and smiled apologetically at Aubrey. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little excited."

Having already graduated three years previous and having lived a rollercoaster of a life in the years after her graduation, Aubrey didn't really know how to respond to Emily's outburst. But she _was_ excited, and not just a little, because Stacie was graduating and they had actual plans for the next part of their lives.

And Chloe finally graduated, which kind of gave everything a bittersweet flavor to Aubrey, because the matter of her graduation had been the root cause of so much of their erstwhile alienation from each other.

"I hope I'll have friends as awesome as the Bellas when I graduate," Emily continued, and then paused. "I'm going to need to make friends."

That caught Aubrey's attention, and she glanced over at the younger girl in curiosity. "You don't have friends?"

Emily scrunched up her face. "I mean, I have friends."

Aubrey tilted her head to the side, inquiringly.

"Like, you know, Benji, and Jesse, and stuff. The Bellas."

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow.

Emily laughed uncomfortably. "I've been spending most of my time when I'm not in class with the Bellas. That's normal, right?"

Aubrey wasn't sure, because as a freshman, she'd been gifted with an awesome roommate named Chloe Beale who dragged her to all the events she insisted were essential to their college experience, and she'd been all but adopted by the then-graduating members of the Barden Bellas who taught her the important things she would need to know for college, so she'd gotten the best of both worlds at the time.

And in that moment, she pitied Emily a little, because she had joined a group of Barden Bellas who have been more or less a complete unit for three years, who have been through college as a collective that whole time; add to the fact that they had all been consumed by the need for a cappella redemption, and Emily couldn't possibly have had the best freshman year she could have asked for.

Aubrey exhaled. "Do you have pen and paper?"

Emily furrowed her brow in confusion, but nodded.

"Write this down." Aubrey ordered, and the minute Emily had pen and paper in hand, Aubrey listed some of the more important things she figured Emily would benefit from knowing as a Barden student, with the caveat that some of her knowledge could be outdated. She enumerated the places that had free food, and other free entertainment throughout campus, and where the vending machines with good selections were; which places were well-lit even at odd hours of night, which places to avoid like the plague; who to talk to if she wanted studio time in the Arts and Music building, how to ensure she got access to any rehearsal space on campus; the names of the people who helped with the maintenance of the Bellas' house, and who to call for help, especially on things pertaining to the house.

When she was done, Emily stared at her and then at the things in her notebook. "Wow."

"Yeah." Aubrey agreed, remembering her own wide-eyed reaction when her then-captain and her friends had first argued among themselves on what they should first teach their freshman protégée. She had always regretted that she'd been so focused on the ICCAs and getting back to the finals and hopefully beating The Treblemakers when she'd been a college senior that she hadn't taken the opportunity to teach the then-freshman Bellas under her care anything her own captain and senior Bellas had taught her. She'd taught some of what she knew to Stacie, and Stacie in turn had coerced her and Chloe from imparting some of their shared knowledge, but Aubrey knew she could have done a better job.

She also knew Chloe and Beca and the rest of the graduating Bellas had tried their best with Emily, but some things just took precedence; hopefully Emily would manage on her own when she had to build a whole new set of Barden Bellas for next year.

"You know you can get non-freshmen to audition for the Bellas, right?" Aubrey asked.

Emily glanced at her.

"You're going to need other girls who aren't freshmen to help you, when you're captain." Aubrey advised. "Get at least a few who'll also be sophomores like you. Maybe one or two third years, to help with the wrangling. But don't let them forget that you're the captain."

Emily started giggling. "I'm the Bella captain."

Aubrey stared at her, a little annoyed that her serious advice was being giggled at – she knew Emily was a giggly, giddy mess almost all the time, but this was ridiculous – and inwardly sighed. She glanced at her watch, and stood up. "I'm gonna check on Stacie."

Before Emily could say anything, Aubrey was gone, and she did just that, climbing up the stairs to check on the girls who were supposed to be changing out of their graduation ceremony wear to get ready for the graduation party off-campus.

When she entered the room Stacie and Chloe shared, Aubrey was greeted with a full-body tackle-hug from Chloe. And a redhead shouting into her ear, "I graduated!"

"You did!" Aubrey returned, laughing.

Chloe pressed her palms to Aubrey's cheeks, squishing her face in her hands. "You owe me a round of drinks at the party tonight." She released Aubrey, and left the room, leaving Aubrey grumbling in her wake.

Aubrey rubbed her cheeks, feeling a little raw. "That was unnecessary."

"She's excited." Stacie told her.

Aubrey turned to her, and found herself smiling as she approached Stacie. "Hey, you."

Stacie smiled back, happily welcoming the kiss Aubrey gave her and wrapping her arms around Aubrey's waist. "I just saw you."

"I know."

Stacie grinned into their kiss, and while a part of her worried that it would be so easy for both of them to escalate their easy intimacy and miss the party altogether, a larger part of her just didn't care, and even wanted it to happen.

"Ease up lovebirds, we have a party to go to!" Fat Amy hollered, banging her hand against the open bedroom door to catch their attention, and earning matching scowls from the couple.

Stacie sighed, and pecked Aubrey's lips as she eased off. "To be continued."

* * *

"Borrowing," was all Chloe said before she clamped her hand on Aubrey's wrist and pulled her away from the dance floor where she'd been dancing with Stacie. Aubrey looked over her shoulder at Stacie, but the girl only waved back, before finding Jessica and Ashley and dancing with them.

Aubrey followed Chloe to the open bar of the hotel ballroom the Barden graduates had booked for the party, and frowned when Chloe ordered them four rounds of shots. "You said I owed you a round."

"Yeah," Chloe nodded, grinning at her, the wide grin the most telling sign that Chloe was ahead of her in the drinking game. "For each of my graduation years."

Aubrey blinked at her, because surely she was kidding? They were in a hotel, yes, but Aubrey wasn't even sure there were still rooms left available during graduation season in the area, not to mention someone would probably have to wrangle the Bellas at the end of the night. She glanced over at the bartender, and she seemed to take pity on her, watering down Aubrey's half of the shots while Chloe wasn't looking.

Chloe turned back as their drinks were served, and after the first shot, she gave Aubrey a serious look. "I meant to tell you earlier," she started, "I'm sorry I didn't stick around for the party when you graduated."

Aubrey blushed, because despite Chloe's absence on her own graduation party three years ago, the night had actually worked out for her. Mostly thanks to Stacie. But she wasn't about to tell Chloe that.

"I didn't even realize it was at this same hotel," Chloe noted, glancing around.

"Different ballroom." Aubrey informed her.

Chloe turned back to her. "I should've been there."

"Well, we're here now," Aubrey reminded, and lifted her next shot, prompting Chloe to do the same. She smiled at the redhead. "And you finally graduated."

"Finally?" Chloe repeated jokingly.

"Finally." Aubrey confirmed, drinking the shot. Even diluted, she could feel the alcohol, and knew for certain Chloe was going to regret this in the morning. But taking advantage of Chloe's inebriation, she hazarded, "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" Chloe asked, chasing the previous shot with another one, leaving Aubrey a shot behind.

"What are you going to do about Beca?"

"What _am_ I going to do about Beca?" Chloe returned, handing Aubrey her shot. "Drink."

Aubrey pouted at the delay, but did as ordered.

Chloe glanced over Aubrey's shoulder, and when Aubrey turned, saw Beca seated at one of the tables the Bellas have co-opted as their own, with her boyfriend with her. Aubrey turned back to Chloe to look at her questioningly.

"They're planning to move to LA together." Chloe confided. "But Beca got a job offer from Residual Heat, so I don't know what's going to happen."

"That doesn't answer my—"

"There's a moment, right?" Chloe interrupted, picking up the last shot and biting the corner of her lower lip pensively. "When you grow up or stay where you are, or something?"

Aubrey nodded.

Chloe smiled wryly at her. "I haven't decided yet."

But the fact that Chloe was aware of it said plenty.

Aubrey picked up her own shot glass, and tapped it lightly with Chloe's. "Happy graduation."

Chloe smiled at her, and for a moment Aubrey almost wished they'd had this moment three years ago. Almost. "Happy graduation, Bree."

And then she turned and ordered a round of shots for the Bellas.

* * *

Stacie took one look at her girlfriend's flushed features and concluded, "You're drunk."

"I'm inebriated," Aubrey corrected, taking the seat beside Stacie at the table having followed Chloe to the set of tables the Bellas were occupying. Chloe had figured out early in their friendship that the key to work around Aubrey's alcohol tolerance was to mix her drinks, and she had done exactly that while they had waited at the bar.

But at least she wasn't as drunk as Chloe.

Behind them, a different bartender carried a round of shots for the Bellas.

"What's this?" Fat Amy asked, intrigued, joining the group.

"Drunk Bellas. My kind of party." Bumper declared, making Aubrey shoot him a glare, which then prompted Jesse to stand up, followed by Benji, and the two of them dragged Bumper away.

"We're doing shots," Chloe announced, a little unnecessarily, and Stacie shot Aubrey a concerned look, since it was obvious both she and Chloe were two sheets to the wind already.

"It's fine," Aubrey assured her, since she'd already sent word to one of her older friends in Barden that she and the rest of the Bellas would be needing a ride. Kevin, used to such weird requests, had confirmed the time she'd requested. She just hoped the text she had hurriedly sent him was actually coherent and he hadn't just been indulging the mess of a text message.

Stacie shrugged, and took the glass Lilly handed her, and smiled when both Aubrey and Emily were each given their own.

"What are we toasting?" Cynthia Rose asked, once everyone had a shot glass in hand.

Everyone turned to Beca, as their de facto leader and captain. Beca, in turn, glanced at Chloe and Aubrey.

"To what comes next." Chloe said, glancing at Aubrey briefly before returning her attention to Beca.

"To the future," Aubrey agreed. The look she gave Beca indicated she had to say something of her own.

"Uh, graduation?" Beca surmised.

"And to Worlds!" Emily exclaimed, unable to contain herself.

"We're so kicking German ass at Worlds," Fat Amy announced.

"We're totes winning Worlds." Chloe agreed, and after the year they've had, nobody was going to argue with Chloe on that point.

Beca cleared her throat, earning her the attention of all the Barden Bellas.

"Bellas for life."


End file.
